From the 1950s to the 1980s the open-air playground was a social laboratory. Innovative wacky
educational and exciting playground designs emerged in European and American cities as well
as elsewhere around the world: artists landscape designers architects and activists sought
to provide children with the best possible place to play while also reimagining cities and
communities. First published in 2018 The Playground Project instantly became a classic.
This much-expanded new edition brings back the wealth of ideas of that period to inspire us
today. It offers many previously unpublished images numerous new portraits especially of
female protagonists of the time as well as findings from the latest research on playground
design. An incisive introductory essay places the playground at the intersections of education
architecture urban politics design history and leisure policy. A detailed focus is placed on
the forgotten history of playgrounds in the former German Democratic Republic. Moreover young
researchers explore the culture of memory surrounding the Shek Lei Playground in Hong Kong and
the role that playgrounds played in the process of state-building in Mexico. The book is a
tribute to play in public spaces and a rich source for architects designers students
children and political actors.
